Continuous-rail crossing for street-railways.



OTTO GOTTSCl-IALK, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

CONTINUOUS-RAIL CROSSING FOR STREET-RAILWAYS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 24, 1906.

Application filed August 4,1904. Serial No. 219,420-

To (all whom it 71mg concern.-

Be it known that I, OTTO GOTTSCHALK, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Continuous-Rail Crossings forStreet-Railways, of which the following is a specification. V

This invention relates to improvements made in street-railway crossings where the rails of one track intersecting those of another track, generally at right angles, are provided with breaks or openings for the flanges of the wheels to pass; a

The inventioncomprises a novel construction and combination of car-wheel having in .addition to its usual tread a supplemental tread of a different diameter and a track-rail having a principal bearing-surface with a break or opening'at the point of intersection of the rail of the other track and a supplemental bearing-surface alongside of and bringing the break in the principal bearing-surface. The supplemental rim or 1 tread is caused to run on the principal bearin -surface of the rail at the crossing-point and-take the weight of the load off the rincipal tread on the rim by raising the level of the supplemental bearing-surface at the crossingoint. The principal tread on the wheel-rim eing elevated by that means above the to of the princi al bearing-surf ace of the railwi 1 travel over t e break or opening without touching. The supplemental tread of the rim and the supplemental bearing-surface of the rail thus form an efficient means of overcomin or re moving the noise and jar caused by t e carwheel umping over the breaks or o enings in the rails as these crossings have ereto fore been constructed.

The following description explains at length the nature of mysaid invention and the manner in which I proceed to construct and apply the same, the accompanying drawings being referred to therein by letters.

Figure l is a lan of the rails of two trzi cks *1 2 is a vertical cross-section on the line at a e, Fig. 1, showing also two wheels of a car-truck in position on the crossing. Fig. 3 is a front elevation, on an enlarged scale, of one of the car-wheels, showing the improved construction of rim.

At the crossing-point Wherea rail 0 in one track A intersects the nearest rail 6 in the other track B and where the-two rails are separated by the usual break or open space (indicated by the letter a in the drawings) the flanges of both rails are brought up nearly to the level of the top face or principal bearing-surface (l of the rail. Starting from a point in advance of the break or opening e and from the common level of the flange,(in dicated at e in the drawin s) the flange of the rail is increased in thickness for the full width of the crossin and to a point e beyond the opposite rai of the same track, so as to bring the top face of the flange that lies between thosepointse e nearly up to the level ofthe top face (1 of the rail itself. This elevated portion 6 of the flange is joined to the main portion at each end beyond the crossingpoints of the two tracks by inclines f, that give a gradual ascent from the unthickened portion of the rail-flange up to the elevated portion. At each break a in therail therefore the rail-flange running alongside the gap will extend across and bridge the gap, while the elevated flange of the adjacent rail of the other track, running crosswise, will fill the 'gap widthwise and nearly up to the level of the rail. In the car-wheel g used with this crossin the rim is constructed with two treads it of different diameters arranged side by side and having about the same Width of face, one of the faces constituting the main tread of the wheel, or that which runs on the top face of the rail, while the other face, which I have termed the supplemental tread, be-

ing arranged to run on the flange, or, rather,

the elevated part or section of the rail-flange at and between the intersecting-points of the track-rails. The difference between the level of the'top face of the rail and the surface of this elevated section of the rail-flange is so calculated and fixed with relation to the difference between the diameters of the stepped faces of: the wheel-rim that when the wheel is passing over the crossin the supplemental tread i will travel on the elevated section e of the rail-flange, while the inain tread 7 will clear thetop face of the rail and travel over it without touching. The weight of the load will therefore be transferred to and carried by the supplemental tread on the wheel-rim.

and the main tread will pass over the breaks or openings at theintersec'ting-pxoints of one rail with theother withoutma ing contact with the rail, and as the elevated section of the track-flange furnishes a continuous hearing surface for the supplemental rim the wheel passes across the intersecting-point of two different diameters furnishing a main track not only at any point beyond the cross-"- one rail with another and with little or nonoise. The diflerence between the diameters ofthestepped portions h 'i of the wheel-rim also gives the portion of greater diameter thefunction of a flange that serves to keep the wheel from leaving the rail and jumping the ing, but especially at the crossing where the of the top face of the rail abovethe level ofelevated section of the rail-flange is situated,

because at the latter point the greater height the flange on which the rim 1' is traveling gives that rim suflicient hold sidewise to prevent the wheel from shifting laterally and leaving the flange.

'The supplemental tread i, as well as the main tread h, is made as wide as practicable in order to furnish a bearing-surface that will run on theYrail-flange and the rail proper without excessive wear or cutting of the surfaces .that' travel in contact with-each other,

' and particularly with respect to the supplemental rim, which is required to take the full weight of the load While the crossing is being ma e. The Width oftthe 'tread is equal, or nearly so, to the width of the-face of the railflange it is required to travelon.

From the foregoing description the essen tial features of my invention will be seen to consist in the wheel having a stepped rim of tread and a supplemental tread and either of which is ad'aptedto give-abroad bearingface and in combination therewith crossingsecting rail s', *the elevated tread rails havingeach a principal rail-surface level with. and' a -continuation of the. track-rail proper and a supplemental rail-surface which is formed byi elevatingfthe flange of the rail at thecrossingoint and across the breaks on openings at t e intersecting-point of one railwithanothenj v v.

scribed my invention, what Having thusfd Iclaim, and desire 'osecure by Letters Pat- .ent', is 1 ing surfaces e that passthrough the breaks of the elevated tread portions (2 of the'interortions e of the rails being connected wit I the main flanged por'tions e thereof by the inclines f,

. substantially as set, forth;-

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set ofthe rails being thickened and elevatedat the crossing to constitute. supplemental bear- 5 5 my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' QTTO GOTTSCHALK. Witnesses: v

GEo. T Knox,

- T. Wt WriHoFT. 

